After that wonderful free meal from the white pegasus named Cloud Strike, we thanked him and soon, Spike and I continued our way towards the Everfree Forest as we tried our best not to catch so many attention. We came to the edge of town, took the earthy path which was surrounded by trees, and soon found ourselves in an apple orchard. I stood near the white fence, and the apple orchard was on the other side. I noticed a lot of earth and pegasi ponies were harvesting the very infamous Zap Apples. They pick 'em and put them in wooden circular barrels lying on the grassy earth a few meters from me. I think they saw me, but they don't seem to mind my presence though, until a voice quite too familiar caught my ears from behind.
"Now wat'n tarnation are yah standin' 'round there for?" I turned around and found myself staring at the orange earth pony I idolized quite a bit back home. She's the very same pony as in the show, minus her hat, though, which was a bit of a shame. She was glaring at me for some reason...
I smiled, and tried my darn best to make it look casual, as this weird sense of excitement of seeing her was starting to make my head unable to think straight and my heart to rapidly beat. "Hu-hi?" Yeah, great start... "I---"
"If yer here tah only stare at the apples," she cut me off as she started walking towards the barn up ahead, "then Ah suggest yah better get yer lazy flank off of mah farm!"
"Geez," I heard Spike's quiet yet irritated voice, "what's her problem?" Honestly, I wondered about that as well. The way she looked and talked to me really killed the Applejack-fan within me, and it hurts...quite a lot...
I let out a sad and long sigh. "Let's go, Spike," I quietly said as I began to climb up the fence. Hopping on the other side, I began walking towards the dreaded forest with my slightly slowed pace. Her voice was still ringing in my head, and it was worsening my sadness. I ignored the confused looks from the working ponies in the orchard though. They're not worth to be payed any mind, as I continued my walk, passing through the sea of trees.
A yellow earth stallion was standing in my way, however, so I simply walked to the side and conti--- "Hey there, partner," he called, catching my attention, for his voice sounded mighty familiar. I looked at him, and tried my best to remember. He looked so darn familiar... "What's got ya all so down in the dumps, huh?" He asked with a pretty darn wide smile.
I shook my head. "Sorry, but do I know you?" And I just realized the moment I said it of how stupid of a question that was. I suppresed the urge to facehoof when he chuckled.
"Nah," he shook his head slightly, "I don't think we ever met before," he nodded before continuing, "but that ain't no reason for me tah know a few more ponies. So what's yer name?"
If he wasn't smiling, I would have just easily continued my walk and pretended he didn't even exist, like I always did back home, especially in the city. I don't trust the people in the city streets, but this pony's smile really helped me ease this growing downheartedness. I smiled back. "Name's J---" uh, "Gold Blitz," and I turned slightly so he could see Spike more clearly on my back, "and this here's Spike."
"Hi?" Spike awkwardly said with a nervous smile as he slightly lifted a claw and waved ever so slightly at the pony.
The said pony didn't seem to care that I have a dragon though. "Howdy, you two," he lifted a hoof towards his head, but stopped after feeling that there was nothing on his head. "I always forget that I no longer have mah hat..." he said with a weak smile. "Aw well, mah name's Braeburn." Oh, I think I heard that name from the show before. He took a few steps towards us and eyed Spike. "Spike, was it?" He asked with a smile, and Spike nodded with a bit of uncertainty. "My oh my," he said in awe as he leaned closer to him, scanning his scales with narrowed and fond eyes, "Ah've never-ever seen such a big lizard in all mah life."
"Lizard?" Spike asked, a bit hurt. "I'm not a lizard!"
Braeburn patted his head. "Well, don't yah worry. Ah'm sure we 'ave a few insects flyin' 'round here." He took a few steps back and started turning his head left and right as he tried to spot a few bugs that might be around somewhere.
Spike and I looked at each other with a shared confusion. We turned back and saw the other ponies who were also as confused as us, though they payed the earth pony no mind and continued on their work. "Look, Braeburn sir," I began before sounds of a bell echoed through.
"Well shoot," Braeburn said with a wide smile as he turned towards the red barn a few distance away. "It's about time they call us for lunch!" And from that, I already knew what he's going to say next as he returned his smiling face back at me. "Wou---"
"No thanks," I immediately cut him off, "we really nee---" and I was cut off by the loud rumbling stomach noise of the purple lizard sitting on my back. I shot him an annoyed look as he smiled at me apologetically.
"What?" he asked, "It's not my fault that I'm still hungry."
"It's settled then!" Braeburn exclaimed in so much joy, as if he won a lottery or something. I sighed in defeat. If I want Spike to at least be able to protect me from whatever danger awaits us in the Everfree Forest, he might as well be belly prepared...
...yey for another free food?
---
We were seated around a large wooden table outside the red barn, which was full of deliciously-looking food: apple fritter, apple pie, candy apple, and some other apple-food-stuff that I am not aware of their names of. I am still quite full from the meal that Cloud Strike gave us earlier, so I only took a small amount of food, just enough to shut the blabbering mouth of Braeburn, who decided to sit beside me. No offense to him, but I am now starting to agree of how the authors of some fanfics portray him. Even when his mouth was full, he was still able to talk non-stop, as if there's nothing inside his mouth. Hm... Maybe that's his special talent?
Spike settled on my other side, eating to his heart's content. He choked a number of times, though. Lunch, or whatever meal they were having at this hour, was lively, which was, quite interesting, for it kinda reminded me of home a few years back, when my very own family was still as sticky as glue...
"Com'on Applejack," Braeburn suddenly said after recovering from his laughing fit after hearing a rather lame joke from a pegasus, "get with the program, couz'!"
The orange mare, who was seated across of me, glared at him. "Unlike you," she spoke, silencing everyone else around, "who's a---" she cut herself off, looked away, closed her angry eyes, and sighed.
I turned to Braeburn, and saw his features dropped. "Aw, couz," he began, "ya haven't moved on yet?"
"Zip it, Braeburn," Applejack shot back as she stood up and walked back towards the barn.
"What's up with her?" Spike suddenly asked through a mouthful of pie. I glared at him for his lack of manners, but it fell to no use, since he wasn't paying any attention to me at the moment.
Braeburn shook his head. "My couz's really having a mighty ol' hard time to accept what has happened to us a few years back..." He swallowed the stuff he was chewing before continuing, to my greatest relief, for I can now properly face him. "First, our Granny Smith passed away..."
...ouch...
He stared at his plate, and slightly played with a piece of pie with a hoof. "...and then Big Mac, her big brother, was captured by the unicorns..."
...eh?
"...and Apple Bloom, her little sister, suddenly disappeared."
"Wow," Spike said quietly, "I-I'm sorry to hear that... That's just, awful..." I wondered if Spike knew that the Macintosh her knew back in Ca---Unicornia and Big Mac are the same pony?
"The unicorns are nothing but heartless ponies..." I heard a female pony murmured a few chairs away from me.
A pegasus across from her nodded. "I heard that they turn earth ponies into their slaves!"
And the table was now filled with voices saying awful stuff about the unicorns being tyrants, snobs, prideful, and whatever, and from the little time I spent inside Unicornia, I...would kinda agree. But maybe not all of them, like that...uh...Boulder, right, him. Wait, no, maybe he's just a victim of the other stupid-thinking unicorns like...Twilight...
Sigh... What is up with these ponies?